Property Tycoon Speaks Out on Iceland Debacle

A Chinese billionaire whose efforts to buy a major chunk of land in Iceland were thwarted by the government there said on Thursday that he was turned away because of nervousness over his membership in the Communist Party.

Huang Nubo, a 55-year-old property tycoon, said the Icelandic government’s blocking of his proposed $8 million land purchase smells of anti-China and anti-Communist Party sentiment.

“Maybe the world isn’t ready yet for to embrace Chinese entrepreneurs,” he told a small group of reporters Thursday in Shanghai.

At time time, Iceland’s Ministry of the Interior said Mr. Huang’s attempted conquest, through his company Beijing Zhongkun Investment Group, would amount to almost 0.3% of the nation’s territory.

The official rejection notice says Mr. Huang’s land purchase proposal is structured in ways that conflict with local laws.

The note also makes clear sovereignty is a consideration. “In the opinion of the Ministry, it is impossible to ignore how large an area of land, i.e. 30,639 hectares, is involved in the purchasing plans of the company, and there is no precedent for such a large area of Icelandic land to have been placed under foreign control.”

Mr. Huang’s land-purchase proposal was eye-catching, and the decision over the proposal riveted Iceland. He has said a college-age friendship with an Icelandic man made him fond of the country, and he came to regard it as the right place for a resort that would feature the kind of golf resorts his company has built in China. The land he picked is located in the Grimsstadir a Fjollum region at the northern end of Iceland, more than 450 kilometers from the capital.

What may make Icelandic officials nervous – the decision maker, Interior Minister Ögmundur Jónasson, didn’t respond to a request for comment this week – is how Mr. Huang’s past work in the Communist Party’s Propaganda Department and his continuing membership might figure into his Arctic Circle ambitions.

Analysts say politicized investment is a concern of many governments as China’s outward foreign direct investment nears its intake of foreign money. While there is no evidence Mr. Huang is working with the government, Beijing is pursuing various projects at the world’s poles, which analysts see as long-term positioning for military footholds and natural resources.

Mr. Huang on Thursday said he could just as easily make an investment in Denmark or another nation if Iceland doesn’t want his money. The U.S., he said, is more welcoming. Referring to Iceland’s recent economic crisis, he said, “They are ill, and when they’re weak a young and robust man comes that frightens them.”

He said that as Chinese businesses go global they need to respect international norms but that considering political party affiliation is Cold War thinking. “I feel proud to be a Communist Party member,” Mr. Huang said.